When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, he was a little curious. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at his military advisor Xu Yixian first, and then turned back to Song Xiance and said, "What do you think? Tell me."
After hearing this, Song Xiance pointed to the south, and then said: "Since the imperial court won't give us a way to survive, we must be destroyed. Then let's leave the place that the imperial court can control. Isn't that enough?"
"..." Upon hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but be stunned for a while, then turned to look at Xu Yixian, then turned back and said with a little surprise, "You also have this idea?"
Li Zicheng was a little surprised when he heard this, but after thinking about it, he understood.
Zhang Xianzhong's current situation is similar to his. The Ming Dynasty was already desperate and was surrounded in the southwestern region of Yunnan. There was no way to break out of the encirclement and re-enter the Central Plains. If they didn't want to sit back and wait for death, the only way was to leave the Ming Dynasty.
After all, there is no cliff behind you. If you can continue to escape, why not continue to escape?
Thinking of this, Li Zicheng didn't need Song Xiance to speak, but he asked himself: "Then you come into Dongwu with us, so that we can take care of each other, don't capsize in the gutter, and be killed by these southern barbarians. Damn it!"
Although he has 20,000 troops, he has gone to a foreign country. If he had more troops, he would naturally be more confident. This is also one of the main reasons why he wants to meet with Zhang Xianzhong!
In fact, Zhang Xianzhong had the same idea. After hearing what Li Zicheng said, he nodded and said: "To avoid the imperial army led by that dog officer Sun Chuanting, I don't think it is enough just to enter the cave. What if he comes after me?" ?”
After hearing this, Li Zicheng frowned and thought for a while. Feeling that it was very possible, he asked Zhang Xianzhong: "Then where do you want to go?"
"There is no place for us to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, and we don't want to be surrounded and suppressed by Sun Gouguan, so naturally the farther away the better!" After hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong immediately replied, "My idea is to simply go farther away. , how about going to the Buddhist country?"
"Buddha country?" Li Zicheng confirmed with a hint of doubt after hearing this.
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong's military advisor Xu Yixian replied: "In the past, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the Huns, leaving the Huns without a foothold on the grasslands. Therefore, the Huns did not want to submit to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so they were forced to move westward. According to what I know You know, those Huns who migrated westward established a new empire in the extreme west and have been ruling there ever since! Our situation now is similar to that of the Huns back then. How about we seek to go to the west and found a country? The Buddhist countries are all mud-tempered and have absolute fighting power. Not strong!"
"Really?" Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng immediately turned to look at Song Xiance for confirmation.
After Song Xiance heard this, he didn't answer. Niu Jinxing, who had been silent all this time, spoke first: "General, it seems that the Huns moved westward to establish an empire. As for the Buddhist country, I have also heard about it. Some rumors say that the people there can get food by just serving the land, so they are very lazy. Their army is just that!"
Niu Venus is the person who governs people. When he says this, it is very authoritative. When Li Zicheng heard this, he couldn't help but feel moved. He turned to Zhang Xianzhong and asked, "Do you know how to get there?"
He was a little worried that if Zhang Xianzhong didn't know the way or took out a copy of "Journey to the West", all the joy would be in vain.
"You probably know how to get there!" Zhang Xianzhong nodded and said, "There were natives who went there before, but now they are under my control."
Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng did not make an immediate decision, but looked at his military advisor.
Song Xiance had been listening. When he saw Li Zicheng looking at him, he nodded slightly and said, "Now that King Dongwu is Talong, there has been peace for a long time. There has been no war for at least fifteen or six years. The country is rich and the people are strong. I'm afraid it's not that good. Fight! If we fight to the death with Dongwu’s army, I’m afraid we still don’t know who will win.”
The implication is that it is best to pick a persimmon that is soft enough to pinch. Unless there is nothing you can do and cannot defeat the imperial army, then attack Dongwu's army.
Li Zicheng can be where he is today, of course, without his decisive side. Besides, he has more troops than Zhang Xianzhong, so Zhang Xianzhong is not afraid of him, so what is he afraid of!
So, he nodded and said to Zhang Xianzhong: "In that case, let's join forces and fight to the Buddha Kingdom together! But we have agreed in advance that if we really want to build a kingdom there, we will be a country of brothers. We can only use swords and guns. How about externally?"
When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, he wanted to sneer in his heart, but now it was time to join forces, so he did not sneer at Li Zicheng, but immediately nodded in response: "I, Zhang Xianzhong, have been upright and aboveboard in my life, and I have never done anything to my brothers! Never before!" , and there will definitely never be one in the future!”
Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng's old face turned red, but he immediately became fine. In front of Zhang Xianzhong, he said in a very firm voice: "Okay, I, Li Hongji, will never do anything to my brothers in the future. If I violate this oath, I will never do anything to my brother." Killed by an arrow through the heart!”
No one mentioned what happened in the past. Now that I have made a strong oath, I can give Zhang Xianzhong an explanation.
He came here for cooperation, so Zhang Xianzhong is naturally sensible.
So, the two people, together with their military advisors, began to discuss the expedition to the Buddhist Kingdom.
I have to say that this matter is definitely not an easy one. There are many difficulties to be overcome, and the final result is still unknown.
However, no matter what, it would be much better than being besieged by Sun Chuanting and the imperial army in a corner of Yunnan. If they stayed here and continued fighting with Sun Chuanting, they themselves could foresee that the entire army might be annihilated in the end.
However, even if the expedition to the Buddhist Kingdom is difficult, at least there is hope of survival, and even hope of founding the country and ascending the throne!
After such a comparison, this choice is a matter of course.
………………
Five days later, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's troops looted the area under their control and burned everything they could not take away. Then they jumped into Myanmar together.
The tactics they used were still like those of thieves. Wherever they passed, they took away everything that could be taken away. Those that could not be taken away were burned, and they held the local people hostage, whether they were from Ming Dynasty or Dongwu. They all went with the army to serve as sources of troops and cannon fodder.
Regarding the actions of these bandits, the imperial officers and soldiers did not react for a while because of their steady and step-by-step strategy. By the time the local military intelligence gathered at Sun Chuanting's side, the bandits led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had already entered Dongwu territory.
All the generals below asked Sun Chuanting to fight and pursued him as soon as possible. Otherwise, the bandit will flee far away, and it will be difficult to chase him in a foreign country.
Sun Chuanting denied all of this and still asked them to advance slowly. The excuse was to prevent it from being a ruse by thieves. If they killed a carbine, they would find an opening and jump back to the Central Plains, so that all their previous efforts would be wasted.
In fact, it was Zhang Mingwei who told him about the future strategy. Another very important reason why we must act step by step is to drive away thieves like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to harm others, and the court will have further excuses to send troops again.
One of the original purposes was to force Zhang Xianzhong into Annan, and then Sun Chuanting would lead his troops directly into Annan to quell the rebellion.
In fact, Annan at this time was part of the Ming Dynasty, so there was no problem in leading troops directly. The purpose of forcing Zhang Xianzhong to Annan was to have him fight the northern and southern forces in Annan first, to consume their strength and confuse the confrontation between the north and the south.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xianzhong did not go to Annan, but instead met Li Zicheng and jumped into Dongwu.
Regarding Dong Wu, Zhang Mingwei also said that he would take action.
Starting from the Wanli period, Dongwu continued to send troops to invade Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty, and was severely punished by the "big sword" Liu Wei. However, after the Jianlu rebellion in Liaodong, Liu Wei was transferred away, leaving Yunnan without a capable general. As a result, Dongwu invaded again and lost many lands such as Mubang, Mengmi, and Mengyang.
If in the original history, these places eventually failed to return to China and became part of Dongwu.
Now that Zhang Mingwei has traveled through time, under the strong Ming Dynasty, these previously lost lands must be brought back. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty lacked an outlet to the Indian Ocean, and Dongwu could just achieve this goal. Of course, Dongwu became a must-conquering place for the Ming Dynasty.
These matters were discussed in secret with Sun Chuanting before Zhang Mingwei left.
At the beginning, Sun Chuanting actually didn't have much hope for this. I feel that the national power of the Ming Dynasty has not really reached that level. It is already very good to be able to pacify all the thieves. Going back to attack Liaodong Jianlu, that is the focus of the court.
Unexpectedly, as time passed slowly, the Di Bao would reach him again and again. The development of the Ming Dynasty really surprised Sun Chuanting.
Not to mention anything else, just the few great victories against Jianlu made him stunned.
Although he did not go to Liaodong to fight Jianlu, he knew Hong Chengchou's ability. However, in the Battle of Songjin, Hong Chengchou's entire army was wiped out, and even he himself was captured and surrendered. It can be seen that Jianlu's combat power is really strong.
But who would have thought that under the command of Duke Xingguo, the war against Liao would lead to successive great victories, and there was even a great victory in which more than 30,000 built captives were wiped out with the loss of less than 2,000 people.
As a result, Sun Chuanting's confidence was slowly increasing.
He could also feel the increase in national power from the fact that he did not worry about logistics, and His Highness the Crown Prince personally solved the matter for him in a timely manner. At least if he continues to fight like this, the court can support him, which further strengthens his confidence.
Now, after learning that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had jumped into Dongwu, he was of course not in a hurry. He let them harm Dongwu first, and he would follow up slowly.
But no matter what, this matter of suppressing thieves has undergone major changes. He still wrote a memorial and rushed it to the capital.
